RV Crash Safety & Illusions of Safety
Hello, I am new to this forum. I joined so that I could discuss RV safety or rather the illusion of safety. What brought me here was that I bought a Class C motorhome recently. After noticing that ...
Forum Discussion
I don't agree with some of the above comments.
Of course a Class C has the full vehicle manufacturer's steel cab area around them with airbags ... so no safety compromise for the driver and passenger ... maybe even more safe for the driver and passenger because a Ford E350/E450 and Chevy 3500/4500 cutaway van's cab area is more "beefy" than most passenger sedans and SUVs. A pickup's cab area would have about the same safety as those cutaway vans. However, all this DOES NOT apply to the cab area of a Class A motorhome.
As far as sitting in a Class C's dinettte area is concerned - like I said above - the seat belts there should be, or legally better be (in most states?), anchored as solid as in any passenger sedan, SUV, or pickup. One shouldn't buy a Class C that doesn't have properly anchored seat belts everywhere in it. The ONE AREA where a Class C might be less safe than a standard passsenger vehicle is perhaps in side collisions with (very) tall vehicles (since a Class C's dinette seats are higher up than the seats in sedans, SUVs, and most pickups) because a Class C will not have side airbags in it's walls.
As far as towing something with a sedan, SUV, or pickup. No way would I consider this as more safe than riding in an integrated "single piece" structure RV such as a motorhome. That's the main reason we would never have a TT or 5'er RV ... I can just imagine what a dangerous mess would result when something you're towing has a blowout on a curve or in high side winds or on a highway with steeply dropping off shoulders. Some of those huge TTs and 5'ers I see on the highway would really jerk around and/or flip their tow vehicles under various conditions.
WHAT IS dangerous in a Class C is something that I hope is illegal everywhere - letting kids ride up above in a cabover bed.
Of course a Class C has the full vehicle manufacturer's steel cab area around them with airbags ... so no safety compromise for the driver and passenger ... maybe even more safe for the driver and passenger because a Ford E350/E450 and Chevy 3500/4500 cutaway van's cab area is more "beefy" than most passenger sedans and SUVs. A pickup's cab area would have about the same safety as those cutaway vans. However, all this DOES NOT apply to the cab area of a Class A motorhome.
As far as sitting in a Class C's dinettte area is concerned - like I said above - the seat belts there should be, or legally better be (in most states?), anchored as solid as in any passenger sedan, SUV, or pickup. One shouldn't buy a Class C that doesn't have properly anchored seat belts everywhere in it. The ONE AREA where a Class C might be less safe than a standard passsenger vehicle is perhaps in side collisions with (very) tall vehicles (since a Class C's dinette seats are higher up than the seats in sedans, SUVs, and most pickups) because a Class C will not have side airbags in it's walls.
As far as towing something with a sedan, SUV, or pickup. No way would I consider this as more safe than riding in an integrated "single piece" structure RV such as a motorhome. That's the main reason we would never have a TT or 5'er RV ... I can just imagine what a dangerous mess would result when something you're towing has a blowout on a curve or in high side winds or on a highway with steeply dropping off shoulders. Some of those huge TTs and 5'ers I see on the highway would really jerk around and/or flip their tow vehicles under various conditions.
WHAT IS dangerous in a Class C is something that I hope is illegal everywhere - letting kids ride up above in a cabover bed.
